Christopher S. Chapman, David J. Cooper, and Peter Miller (eds)

Business and Management, Organization Studies, Finance, Accounting, and Banking

Accounting has an ever-increasing significance in contemporary society. Indeed, some argue that its practices are fundamental to the development and functioning of modern capitalist societies. We can ...
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Accounting has an ever-increasing significance in contemporary society. Indeed, some argue that its practices are fundamental to the development and functioning of modern capitalist societies. We can see accounting everywhere: in organizations where budgeting, investing, costing, and performance appraisal rely on accounting practices; in financial and other audits; in corporate scandals and financial reporting and regulation; in corporate governance, risk management, and accountability, and in the corresponding growth and influence of the accounting profession. Accounting, too, is an important part of the curriculum and research of business and management schools, the fastest growing sector in higher education. This growth is largely a phenomenon of the last fifty years or so. Prior to that, accounting was seen mainly as a mundane, technical, bookkeeping exercise (and some still share that naive view). The growth in accounting has demanded a corresponding engagement by scholars to examine and highlight the important behavioural, organizational, institutional, and social dimensions of accounting. Pioneering work by accounting researchers and social scientists more generally has persuasively demonstrated to a wider social science, professional, management, and policy audience how many aspects of life are indeed constituted, to an important extent, through the calculative practices of accounting. Anthony Hopwood, to whom this books is dedicated, has been a leading figure in this endeavour, which has effectively defined accounting as a distinctive field of research in the social sciences. The book brings together the work of leading international accounting academics and social scientists, and demonstrates the scope, vitality, and insights of contemporary scholarship in and on accounting and auditing.Less

Published in print: 2009-08-13

Accounting has an ever-increasing significance in contemporary society. Indeed, some argue that its practices are fundamental to the development and functioning of modern capitalist societies. We can see accounting everywhere: in organizations where budgeting, investing, costing, and performance appraisal rely on accounting practices; in financial and other audits; in corporate scandals and financial reporting and regulation; in corporate governance, risk management, and accountability, and in the corresponding growth and influence of the accounting profession. Accounting, too, is an important part of the curriculum and research of business and management schools, the fastest growing sector in higher education. This growth is largely a phenomenon of the last fifty years or so. Prior to that, accounting was seen mainly as a mundane, technical, bookkeeping exercise (and some still share that naive view). The growth in accounting has demanded a corresponding engagement by scholars to examine and highlight the important behavioural, organizational, institutional, and social dimensions of accounting. Pioneering work by accounting researchers and social scientists more generally has persuasively demonstrated to a wider social science, professional, management, and policy audience how many aspects of life are indeed constituted, to an important extent, through the calculative practices of accounting. Anthony Hopwood, to whom this books is dedicated, has been a leading figure in this endeavour, which has effectively defined accounting as a distinctive field of research in the social sciences. The book brings together the work of leading international accounting academics and social scientists, and demonstrates the scope, vitality, and insights of contemporary scholarship in and on accounting and auditing.

This book focuses on the transition faced by business organizations and their stakeholders as they move from protected markets to open competition, and it explores how these changes can be ...
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This book focuses on the transition faced by business organizations and their stakeholders as they move from protected markets to open competition, and it explores how these changes can be facilitated by outside interveners/agents. Centering on four case studies — AT&T, Lucent, Electricité de France, and the Italian State Railways — the book analyses the approach to intervention, the problems created by existing systems of stakeholder dialogue, and the prospects for change. It draws two fundamental lessons. Firstly, that intervention in these situations must be broad and involving — a ‘full engagement’ approach — in order to achieve changes in relations and identities among a range of players. The book explores the key elements and practical techniques of this approach. Secondly, that the issues ultimately go beyond improving union-management relations or organizational structures; even in the best cases, the players have been unable to reach stable agreements in the face of continuing pressures for change. A deep transformation of the system of stakeholder relations is required — the creation of a system of ‘post-industrial relations’. The book includes discussion of managerial problems and intervention strategies in an ever more responsive and flexible economy, and also the implications for democracy in the work-place and the future of union representation. The book is valuable for consultants, unionists, managers, and public policy makers, and accessible also to students and the interested public.Less

Agents of Change : Crossing the Post-Industrial Divide

Charles HeckscherMichael MaccobyRafael RamirezPierre-Eric Tixier

Published in print: 2003-03-20

This book focuses on the transition faced by business organizations and their stakeholders as they move from protected markets to open competition, and it explores how these changes can be facilitated by outside interveners/agents. Centering on four case studies — AT&T, Lucent, Electricité de France, and the Italian State Railways — the book analyses the approach to intervention, the problems created by existing systems of stakeholder dialogue, and the prospects for change. It draws two fundamental lessons. Firstly, that intervention in these situations must be broad and involving — a ‘full engagement’ approach — in order to achieve changes in relations and identities among a range of players. The book explores the key elements and practical techniques of this approach. Secondly, that the issues ultimately go beyond improving union-management relations or organizational structures; even in the best cases, the players have been unable to reach stable agreements in the face of continuing pressures for change. A deep transformation of the system of stakeholder relations is required — the creation of a system of ‘post-industrial relations’. The book includes discussion of managerial problems and intervention strategies in an ever more responsive and flexible economy, and also the implications for democracy in the work-place and the future of union representation. The book is valuable for consultants, unionists, managers, and public policy makers, and accessible also to students and the interested public.

The way we work is changing. New information and communication technologies (ICTs) have enabled new forms of work organization—necessitating new ways to communicate, coordinate, and collaborate on ...
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The way we work is changing. New information and communication technologies (ICTs) have enabled new forms of work organization—necessitating new ways to communicate, coordinate, and collaborate on work. So, increasingly, we find ourselves working in temporary, loosely organized, specialist-heavy, project-oriented teams—all-edge adhocracies. And these adhocracies work very differently from bureaucratic hierarchies, which organized us throughout the 20th century. They have different strengths, weaknesses, and possibilities. This book examines different aspects of all-edge adhocracies: why they are needed, how they emerged, how they are structured, how they develop, how they interact with other kinds of work organization, and what they need to thrive. Throughout, the book grounds its discussion in case studies of all-edge adhocracies at work, helping readers to understand and apply the principles to their own organizations.Less

All Edge : Inside the New Workplace Networks

Clay Spinuzzi

Published in print: 2015-03-17

The way we work is changing. New information and communication technologies (ICTs) have enabled new forms of work organization—necessitating new ways to communicate, coordinate, and collaborate on work. So, increasingly, we find ourselves working in temporary, loosely organized, specialist-heavy, project-oriented teams—all-edge adhocracies. And these adhocracies work very differently from bureaucratic hierarchies, which organized us throughout the 20th century. They have different strengths, weaknesses, and possibilities. This book examines different aspects of all-edge adhocracies: why they are needed, how they emerged, how they are structured, how they develop, how they interact with other kinds of work organization, and what they need to thrive. Throughout, the book grounds its discussion in case studies of all-edge adhocracies at work, helping readers to understand and apply the principles to their own organizations.

Many organizations and their members devote extensive resources to promoting themselves and being known to others. However, not all organizations want or need their identity to be recognized and not ...
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Many organizations and their members devote extensive resources to promoting themselves and being known to others. However, not all organizations want or need their identity to be recognized and not all organizational members want to have their membership or affiliation known by at least certain audiences. As we consider secret societies, anonymous support programs, hate groups, terrorist cells, covert military units, organized crime, gangs, parts of the underground economy, front organizations, stigmatized businesses, and even certain hidden enterprises tucked away in quiet office parks, we have to question what we think we know about the identity goals of organizations and their members. This book offers a framework for thinking about how a wide range of organizations and their members communicate their identity to relevant audiences. Considering the degree to which organizations strategically make themselves visible, the extent to which members express their identification with the organization, and whether the relevant audience is more mass/public or local, we can describe various “regions” in which these collectives reside-ranging from transparent and shaded to more shadowed and dark. Importantly, organizations operating in these spaces differ in how they and their members communicate identity to others. The perspective offered here helps draw attention to more shaded, shadowed, and dark collectives as important organizations in the contemporary landscape.Less

Craig Scott

Published in print: 2013-03-27

Many organizations and their members devote extensive resources to promoting themselves and being known to others. However, not all organizations want or need their identity to be recognized and not all organizational members want to have their membership or affiliation known by at least certain audiences. As we consider secret societies, anonymous support programs, hate groups, terrorist cells, covert military units, organized crime, gangs, parts of the underground economy, front organizations, stigmatized businesses, and even certain hidden enterprises tucked away in quiet office parks, we have to question what we think we know about the identity goals of organizations and their members. This book offers a framework for thinking about how a wide range of organizations and their members communicate their identity to relevant audiences. Considering the degree to which organizations strategically make themselves visible, the extent to which members express their identification with the organization, and whether the relevant audience is more mass/public or local, we can describe various “regions” in which these collectives reside-ranging from transparent and shaded to more shadowed and dark. Importantly, organizations operating in these spaces differ in how they and their members communicate identity to others. The perspective offered here helps draw attention to more shaded, shadowed, and dark collectives as important organizations in the contemporary landscape.

Mauro F. Guillén

Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking, Organization Studies

Why are there so many crises in the world? Is it true that the global system is today riskier and more dangerous than in past decades? Do we have any tools at our disposal to bring these problems ...
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Why are there so many crises in the world? Is it true that the global system is today riskier and more dangerous than in past decades? Do we have any tools at our disposal to bring these problems under control, to reduce the global system’s proneness to instability? These are the tantalizing questions addressed in this book. Using a variety of demographic, economic, financial, social, and political indicators, the book demonstrates that the global system has indeed become an “architecture of collapse” subject to a variety of shocks. An analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008, the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and China, and the European sovereign debt crisis illustrates how the complexity and tight coupling of system components creates a situation of precarious stability and periodic disruption. This state of affairs can only be improved by enhancing the shock-absorbing components of the system, especially the capacity of states and governments to act, and by containing the shock-diffusing mechanisms, especially those related to phenomena such as trade imbalances, portfolio investment, cross-border banking, population ageing, and income and wealth inequality.Less

The Architecture of Collapse : The Global System in the 21st Century

Mauro F. Guillén

Published in print: 2015-11-01

Why are there so many crises in the world? Is it true that the global system is today riskier and more dangerous than in past decades? Do we have any tools at our disposal to bring these problems under control, to reduce the global system’s proneness to instability? These are the tantalizing questions addressed in this book. Using a variety of demographic, economic, financial, social, and political indicators, the book demonstrates that the global system has indeed become an “architecture of collapse” subject to a variety of shocks. An analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008, the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and China, and the European sovereign debt crisis illustrates how the complexity and tight coupling of system components creates a situation of precarious stability and periodic disruption. This state of affairs can only be improved by enhancing the shock-absorbing components of the system, especially the capacity of states and governments to act, and by containing the shock-diffusing mechanisms, especially those related to phenomena such as trade imbalances, portfolio investment, cross-border banking, population ageing, and income and wealth inequality.

This book demonstrates the importance of the role of knowledge in firms and economies. The authors clarify the theoretical debates on the production and use of knowledge in organizations, and examine ...
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This book demonstrates the importance of the role of knowledge in firms and economies. The authors clarify the theoretical debates on the production and use of knowledge in organizations, and examine the challenges that face those managing knowledge at different levels of the organization. They develop the notion of ‘community’ within the context of the firm and explore the ways in which these communities learn and produce new knowledge, positing from this emphasis a challenging model of distributed governance of knowledge within and beyond firms. Using insights from academic disciplines including economics, science and technology studies, cognitive sciences, economic geography, and management science, the authors use analytical argument and empirical cases to develop a new theorization of knowledge formation and management, and in turn a new conception of the firm.Less

Architectures of Knowledge : Firms, Capabilities, and Communities

Ash AminPatrick Cohendet

Published in print: 2004-01-29

This book demonstrates the importance of the role of knowledge in firms and economies. The authors clarify the theoretical debates on the production and use of knowledge in organizations, and examine the challenges that face those managing knowledge at different levels of the organization. They develop the notion of ‘community’ within the context of the firm and explore the ways in which these communities learn and produce new knowledge, positing from this emphasis a challenging model of distributed governance of knowledge within and beyond firms. Using insights from academic disciplines including economics, science and technology studies, cognitive sciences, economic geography, and management science, the authors use analytical argument and empirical cases to develop a new theorization of knowledge formation and management, and in turn a new conception of the firm.

Leadership is still much discussed, studied, and sought after, even though we now live in supposedly more democratic times with flatter organizations and empowered employees. But how can we best ...
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Leadership is still much discussed, studied, and sought after, even though we now live in supposedly more democratic times with flatter organizations and empowered employees. But how can we best understand leadership? Are leaders born or made? Do they have particular traits or are we all potential leaders? Do the requirements for leadership change over time or are there timeless patterns? Do traditional approaches help us to pick and develop leaders or are there alternative ways that advance our understanding? This book investigates the notion of leadership in a series of historical case studies and rich essay portraits of some of the most famous, and infamous, leaders (e.g. Florence Nightingale, Richard Branson, Horatio Nelson, Martin Luther King, Henry Ford, etc.). The scenarios are drawn from right across the spectrum to include business, politics, society, and the military. The first part of the book considers four sets of parallel cases where leadership appears to be a major explanation of success and failure. The second part takes the four critical issues arising from these parallel cases (identity, strategic vision, organizational tactics, and persuasive communication) and explores them in detail. One main reason we have such difficulty in explaining and enhancing leadership, the author argues, is because we often adopt perspectives and models that obscure rather than illuminate the issues involved. The reliance upon traditional scientific analysis has not provided the anticipated advances in our understanding because leadership is more fruitfully considered as an art, or more exactly an array of arts, rather than as a science.Less

The Arts of Leadership

Keith Grint

Published in print: 2001-05-17

Leadership is still much discussed, studied, and sought after, even though we now live in supposedly more democratic times with flatter organizations and empowered employees. But how can we best understand leadership? Are leaders born or made? Do they have particular traits or are we all potential leaders? Do the requirements for leadership change over time or are there timeless patterns? Do traditional approaches help us to pick and develop leaders or are there alternative ways that advance our understanding? This book investigates the notion of leadership in a series of historical case studies and rich essay portraits of some of the most famous, and infamous, leaders (e.g. Florence Nightingale, Richard Branson, Horatio Nelson, Martin Luther King, Henry Ford, etc.). The scenarios are drawn from right across the spectrum to include business, politics, society, and the military. The first part of the book considers four sets of parallel cases where leadership appears to be a major explanation of success and failure. The second part takes the four critical issues arising from these parallel cases (identity, strategic vision, organizational tactics, and persuasive communication) and explores them in detail. One main reason we have such difficulty in explaining and enhancing leadership, the author argues, is because we often adopt perspectives and models that obscure rather than illuminate the issues involved. The reliance upon traditional scientific analysis has not provided the anticipated advances in our understanding because leadership is more fruitfully considered as an art, or more exactly an array of arts, rather than as a science.

Michael Power

Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking, Organization Studies

Since the early 1980s there has been an explosion of auditing activity in the United Kingdom and North America. In addition to financial audits there are now medical audits, technology audits, value ...
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Since the early 1980s there has been an explosion of auditing activity in the United Kingdom and North America. In addition to financial audits there are now medical audits, technology audits, value for money audits, environmental audits, quality audits, teaching audits, and many others. Why has this happened? What does it mean when a society invests so heavily in an industry of checking and when more and more individuals find themselves subject to formal scrutiny? This book argues that the rise of auditing has its roots in political demands for accountability and control. At the heart of a new administrative style, internal control systems have begun to play an important public role and individual and organizational performance has been increasingly formalized and made auditable. The author argues that the new demands and expectations of audits live uneasily with their operational capabilities. Not only is the manner in which they produce assurance and accountability open to question but also, by imposing their own values, audits often have unintended and dysfunctional consequences for the audited organization.Less

The Audit Society : Rituals of Verification

Michael Power

Published in print: 1999-08-19

Since the early 1980s there has been an explosion of auditing activity in the United Kingdom and North America. In addition to financial audits there are now medical audits, technology audits, value for money audits, environmental audits, quality audits, teaching audits, and many others. Why has this happened? What does it mean when a society invests so heavily in an industry of checking and when more and more individuals find themselves subject to formal scrutiny? This book argues that the rise of auditing has its roots in political demands for accountability and control. At the heart of a new administrative style, internal control systems have begun to play an important public role and individual and organizational performance has been increasingly formalized and made auditable. The author argues that the new demands and expectations of audits live uneasily with their operational capabilities. Not only is the manner in which they produce assurance and accountability open to question but also, by imposing their own values, audits often have unintended and dysfunctional consequences for the audited organization.

Personal authenticity was once a reference point from which critics and labour activists sought to challenge the domination of the corporation. Now it has entered into the parlance of managerial ...
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Personal authenticity was once a reference point from which critics and labour activists sought to challenge the domination of the corporation. Now it has entered into the parlance of managerial discourse. This book critically investigates the increasing popularity of personal authenticity in corporate ideology and practice. Rather than have workers adhere to depersonalising bureaucratic rules or homogenous cultural norms, many large corporations now invite employees to simply be themselves. Alternative lifestyles, consumption, ethic identity, sexuality, fun, and even dissent are now celebrated since employees are presumed to be more motivated if they can just be themselves. Does this freedom to express ones authenticity in the workplace finally herald the end of corporate control? To answer this question, this book places this concern with authenticity within a political framework and demonstrates how it might represent an even more insidious form of cultural domination. The book especially focuses on the way in which private and non-work selves are prospected and put to work in the firm. The ideas of Hardt and Negri and the Italian autonomist movement are used to show how common forms of association and co-operation outside of commodified work is the inspiration for personal authenticity. It is the vibrancy, energy, and creativity of this non-commodified stratum of social life that managerialism now aims to exploit. Each chapter explores how this is achieved and highlights the worker resistance that is provoked as a result. The book concludes by demonstrating how the discourse of freedom underlying the managerial version of authenticity harbours potential for a radical transformation of the contemporary corporate form.Less

Authenticity and the Cultural Politics of Work : New Forms of Informal Control

Peter Fleming

Published in print: 2009-06-25

Personal authenticity was once a reference point from which critics and labour activists sought to challenge the domination of the corporation. Now it has entered into the parlance of managerial discourse. This book critically investigates the increasing popularity of personal authenticity in corporate ideology and practice. Rather than have workers adhere to depersonalising bureaucratic rules or homogenous cultural norms, many large corporations now invite employees to simply be themselves. Alternative lifestyles, consumption, ethic identity, sexuality, fun, and even dissent are now celebrated since employees are presumed to be more motivated if they can just be themselves. Does this freedom to express ones authenticity in the workplace finally herald the end of corporate control? To answer this question, this book places this concern with authenticity within a political framework and demonstrates how it might represent an even more insidious form of cultural domination. The book especially focuses on the way in which private and non-work selves are prospected and put to work in the firm. The ideas of Hardt and Negri and the Italian autonomist movement are used to show how common forms of association and co-operation outside of commodified work is the inspiration for personal authenticity. It is the vibrancy, energy, and creativity of this non-commodified stratum of social life that managerialism now aims to exploit. Each chapter explores how this is achieved and highlights the worker resistance that is provoked as a result. The book concludes by demonstrating how the discourse of freedom underlying the managerial version of authenticity harbours potential for a radical transformation of the contemporary corporate form.

Muel Kaptein and Johan Wempe

Business and Management, Corporate Governance and Accountability, Organization Studies

This book provides a coherent overview of the most important theories and insights in the field of business ethics, together with a substantiated development of ethical norms and values with which ...
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This book provides a coherent overview of the most important theories and insights in the field of business ethics, together with a substantiated development of ethical norms and values with which organizations must comply. At the end of each chapter is a case study (e.g., Shell, KPN Telecom, IHC Caland, Herald of Free Enterprise disaster, etc.), ideal for graduate courses in business ethics and corporate social responsibility.Less

The Balanced Company : A Theory of Corporate Integrity

Muel KapteinJohan Wempe

Published in print: 2002-07-18

This book provides a coherent overview of the most important theories and insights in the field of business ethics, together with a substantiated development of ethical norms and values with which organizations must comply. At the end of each chapter is a case study (e.g., Shell, KPN Telecom, IHC Caland, Herald of Free Enterprise disaster, etc.), ideal for graduate courses in business ethics and corporate social responsibility.